Honda has made a lot of efforts to sell off the Honda team, but as time goes by, investors who have had scandals with the Honda team have no follow-up progress, which also makes many people realize that the previous Those acquisition news are just smoke bombs released by Honda.
Buying an F1 team for US$1 sounds cheap, but the US$170 million in debt behind the Honda team is enough to deter any buyer. What's more, this round of economic crisis has spread around the world, and the economic situation will definitely get worse next year. Investing in an F1 team at this time is obviously not a good choice for many investors, let alone one. A team carrying debt.
With the arrival of the New Year, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile has also announced a new reform plan for the Formula One competition. In order to deal with the economic crisis, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile has proposed a conservation reform plan, the most important of which is the ban on in-season testing. This is good news for small teams. Small teams have little funds and cannot conduct as many mid-season tests as the big teams do. The big teams have no objections. The financial crisis has made their lives difficult, so Save if you can.
However, the Honda team still had no hope of selling it. Until January 19, when the first public test of the new season began, the Honda team still had not found a buyer.
Employees of the Honda team are confused about the future. If the team cannot find a buyer in two months, they will face unemployment. In the current economic environment, it is not easy for them to find a suitable job. It's an easy thing, after all, there are only a few teams in the racing industry, and each team has a fixed team. Without new teams joining, no one will need new employees.
Ross Brawn is still very calm. In the past month, he has devoted all his energy to the design of the new car, especially the double-layer diffuser, which is Ross Brawn's trump card. It has been designed and ready for the new car engine. Once it arrives, it can be assembled into the car for testing.
Zhang Guan, on the other hand, spent the Spring Festival more comfortably. He canceled all other activities during the Spring Festival and stayed at home with his parents, enjoying the short period of tranquility.
The Athletics Association, Tennis Association and Basketball Association all sent people to discuss the new year's event plan with Zhang Guan. With Zhang Guan's current status in the domestic sports world, it is obviously impossible for these governing bodies to force Zhang Guan to participate in competitions, so of course future participation plans must be discussed with Zhang Guan, and Zhang Guan has also won enough honors in the Olympics. , even if it means taking a period of rest, these regulatory agencies will give it a go.
The Spring Festival is a rare break for Zhang Guan. At the same time, Ross Brown finally showed his fangs. He flew to Japan in person to discuss the acquisition of the Honda team with Honda President Takeo Fukui.
…
Honda Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan.
Honda President Takeo Fukui looked like he was gritting his teeth, because just now, he received an offer to acquire the Honda team. The reason why he was angry was not because the offer was too low, but because it was the Honda team that made the offer. CEO Ross Brown!
In Ross Brown's view, the Honda team is almost doomed. He stepped forward to acquire the team at this time to prevent so many employees of the team from losing their jobs. Therefore, he can be regarded as the savior of the team and will definitely receive unanimous praise from everyone.
In the eyes of Fukui, Ross Brawn is simply eating the inside out. After all, Ross Brawn is also an employee of the company. When the team encounters a crisis, instead of trying to find ways to help the team tide over the difficulties, he wants to take the opportunity to eat his own boss. , this is definitely an immoral behavior that is despised.
This is the difference in corporate culture. Westerners do not have the concept of staying the same and it is normal for workers to change jobs. As long as there are enough benefits, there is nothing wrong with former employees taking over the boss's business. Japan's corporate culture is from start to finish. When a person enters a company, it is like entering a family. As long as the company does not close down, he will stay there for the rest of his life. If the company encounters difficulties, the employees will even use their resources. Pay cuts to help businesses weather the storm. Similar things happen in European and American countries. If companies dare to cut wages, collective strikes are expected to come soon.
It was this cultural difference that made Fukui Fukui furious, but Ross Brown acted like a savior, which caused a negotiation between the two to break up.
However, Fukui couldn't find other buyers for a while. If he waits until the start of this season, the Honda team may become worthless, so Fukui can only continue to talk with Ross Brawn.
"We have specially built a wind tunnel testing system for the team. Our wind tunnel has a metal raceway. Four years ago, the Sauber team built the same wind tunnel in Switzerland, which cost more than 45 million US dollars. But now Generally speaking, it will cost more than 60 million US dollars to build this wind tunnel testing system!" Fukui Fukui said.
Ross Brown smiled slightly. He had been staying next to the wind tunnel system for several weeks, and his understanding of the wind tunnel was much better than that of Takeo Fukui.
Just listen to Ross Brown say: "60 million US dollars is the price of a new wind tunnel, and last year, Minardi bought a second-hand wind tunnel for only 3 million US dollars, plus 2 million US dollars in modification fees. , the same effect can be achieved for 5 million US dollars! And IMHO, the motor of the Honda team’s wind tunnel test system has exceeded the maintenance period, so even if you buy it, you will have to spend a lot of money to maintain and replace some parts. .”
"Our engine output testing system is the best in the world, and the 3D measurement and control can test every subtle difference! Honda has spent more than 100 million US dollars just to develop this system! Even Ferrari also does It cannot be compared to our advanced system." Fukui continued.
"But this test system is only useful for manufacturer teams." Ross Brawn waved his hand and continued: "If it is a manufacturer team like Ferrari or Renault, it may be interested in this system, because they are also experts in car engines. Manufacturers, they need this kind of testing, and after I acquired the team, the team became an independent team. We do not have the ability to produce engines ourselves. We only need to ask the engine supplier for a few sets of data, so this system It means nothing to us!"
Ross Brawn paused and then said: "But with all due respect, your system may not be easy to sell. In Formula One, there are only four manufacturer teams left, whether they are Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, or BMW." Or Toyota, they probably won’t be interested in Honda’s system!”
"Our test track in the UK..."
"Slick tires will be reintroduced next year, and the area between the tires and the ground has increased by 17%, so the track needs to be remodeled... "
"Our fuel volume simulation test..."
"The kinetic energy recovery system will be added to next year's rules. The existing fuel volume simulation test has been scrapped and needs to be developed again..."
Fukui Fukui and Ross Brown said something to each other. Every time Fukui mentioned an advantage, it was immediately turned into a disadvantage by Ross Brown. As a result, after an hour, even Fukui felt that the Honda team that the company had spent a lot of money to build, It seems to have become really worthless.
This may be the most difficult negotiation Fukui has ever encountered. There is a saying that if you know yourself and the enemy, you will never be in danger. However, Ross Brown, as the CEO of the team, obviously knows everything about the team better than Fukui Fukui, which puts Fukui Fukui at a clear disadvantage in negotiations. What's more, Ross Brawn is definitely the most knowledgeable insider in Formula One. In just a few words, Fukui's words can't be refuted.
Compared with understanding, Fukui Fukui can't compare with Ross Brown. Compared with professional, Fukui Fukui can't compare with Ross Brown. The situation in this negotiation is already one-sided!
However, Takeo Fukui also knows that even if another person is replaced, he will not achieve better results than him, because the opponent is Ross Brown.
"Traitor! This abominable traitor! Our Honda company is a Formula One team, the top sport in the world, but in the mouth of this traitor, it almost turned into a pile of worthless scraps!" said Fukui Fukui. I wiped the sweat from my forehead and negotiated with an opponent who knew me better than myself. It was really frustrating!
The second chapter has been delivered. Please give me a guaranteed monthly ticket. Thank you to Zhang Changshang, book friend tail number 7627, Li Feimo, Zhili*Zhijie, Invincible Destruction King, Swz Don’t Forget, xsf9800, Sui Li Feixiang, Home in Inner Mongolia, Siomai ONE, the king sent me to read the book and give rewards!
(End of chapter)